Patrick Graham, defensive coordinator, is excited to see how his team reacts Sunday. The RaidersAre 0-2 and want to travel to Nashville to experience the 0-2 TitansThis could be an elimination game within a highly stacked AFC.
Under Mike Vrabel, the Titans have been a tough team in the past and they will be smart after this season. 41-7 lossTo the BillsMonday night
“I think the toughness of that whole team, that whole organization, starting with (coach Mike) Vrabel, J-Rob (general manager Jon Robinson), those guys, they’ve built a real tough football team,” Graham said Tuesday. “When you watch the tape, their toughness jumps off the tape. … We want to have a tough football team — a tough, smart football team that performs well under pressure. It is going to be challenging. I’m looking forward to it.”
Running back Titans Derrick HenryHe is 6’3 and 247lbs making him one of the hardest players to take down in the league. Or so Graham has heard and seen on film — he has never coached against him in Henry’s eight years in the NFL.
“I’ve admired from afar because as a defensive coach, there’s not too many things we like about offense, but when you see the way he runs the ball and the physicality, I wish he would have switched over to defensive end or linebacker at some point,” Graham said. “I’m excited about the challenge. You hear so much about him throughout the league and over the years and really haven’t had a chance to face him. He was only there for one practice when I was at Green Bay in 2018, and that was the last time I saw him. This is going to be fun because he challenges you, the combination of him and the offensive line.”
Henry has only 107 yards of rushing on 34 runs in the first two games. He had 2,027 yards in 2020 and 937 in 8 games last year, before breaking a bone in his foot.
“Tackling (him) is going to be a tough deal,” Graham said. “I mean, this is a big man. There’s not a lot of people on the planet that look like him. The number one skill is the ability to tackle, followed by the perseverance. This is a back who could win the ball between 25 and 30 times per game if he was allowed to. So, I mean, it’s going to be relentless. He’s going to keep coming at you.”
It’s like Beast Mode on a larger scale.
“I’m not comparing him to Marshawn Lynch, but I just remember Marshawn is the best I ever went against in terms of coaching and just how it would build throughout the game,” Graham said. “That third quarter was tough, man. It was tough because Marshawn was still going and you see some of that, some of the playoff games I’ve seen in the past with Henry. They just keep building, and they start wearing on you, so you got to be ready to tackle them for four quarters and understand it’s not going to be a one-man show. It’s going to be a whole bunch of guys that have got to get to him. Plus, they do a good job blocking, so, you know, it’s going to be tough.”
The departure of a star receiver A.J. BrownHenry and the quarterback have been under more pressure Ryan Tannehill. Speaking of pressure …
With just one sack, the Raiders are last in the NFL (courtesy of Maxx Crosby), and before you say it’s not the sacks it’s the pressures — the Raiders are tied for 20th with 16 pressures, according to Sportsradar.
“We’re 0-2 right now,” Graham said. “There’s been improvement, I will say that. Are you happy? No. Because we haven’t won. When we win, that’s when I’m happy, and even then, I’m slightly happy. There are still many things we can improve upon. I got to do a better job coaching and we’ll keep working on it as we keep going through this process.”
Newcomer and one of league’s career sacks leaders, Chandler JonesAlthough it has been quiet, Josh McDaniels, Raiders coach isn’t worried.
“We had to rush a different way (Sunday),” McDaniels said Monday. “That’s clearly one thing we needed to do, and we tried to keep (Kyler Murray) in front of us. He’s a very difficult guy to play against. … When you rush him, and you rush him over-aggressively, bad things can happen. …
“I know when we got tired at the very end, he extended a few plays. We asked the guys to do something, and I think they did it right. They also had some production. But no, I’m not worried about that. Chandler — this isn’t the first time he’s gone two games without a sack.”
Graham stated that Jones was close to him.
“I thought Chan had some great rushes during the game in terms of keeping (Murray) in the pocket,” Graham said. “The unselfishness, like you said, in terms of forcing it to other guys, and we made some plays in there in the pocket and unfortunately they made a few more plays than we made and that’s why they won the game.”
(Photo by Derrick Henry / Gregory Fisher / USA Today
